Appreciation
by Megaphone.Kills.You
Summary: Misa decides to make some sweets for Light, but apparently there is someone who could appreciate them much better...


As she had returned home and couldn't visit the task force's head quarters all the time, Misa Amane was trying hard to find something to entertain herself with. Of course, she had already tried to convince Light to go on a date with her the other day, but naturally, his excuse was that he had to watch L closely.

Tch, and she had believed that now, that the two geniuses were no longer chained to one another, she'd have more time to spend with Light! She let out a groan and dramatically threw her head back. It was so frustrating to be bored already in the morning!

It was freezing inside her apartment she realized and when she moved to turn up the heat, a genius idea struck her. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier? With December approaching, it got pretty cold these days and she knew that the best ways to warm up were lots of love and sweets!

The model giggled to herself, imagining how her dear Light would react to finding the box of chocolates and other treats and time seemed to fly by.

A couple of hours later, she skipped down the street armed with a bag filled with chocolate, various Japanese sweets and a small cake with strawberry icing. She waved happily at the camera that was installed at the front of the building the task force resided in, waiting for Matsuda to let her in.

On her way, she was greeted by the police men who didn't seem to be surprised with her unannounced visit and as giddy as she was right then, she returned the greeting rather loudly. Unfortunately for her, Light was not present at his usual work place, but instead, Ryuzaki was cowering in this weird position of his on Light's seat.

Seeing the raven-haired man sobered her a little and she forced out a happy sounding "Hi, Ryuzaki!" Now, that she knew that this weird person she had called a friend for some time was actually L, it got hard to be around him and she needed all her acting skills to pretend that nothing changed.

Eyes as dark as coals and equally inexpressive fixated on her and she found herself shivering slightly at the intensity of his gaze. Yet another proof that the detective couldn't be a real human being.

"Ryuzaki, where is Light?" Misa chirped, eager to leave the room as soon as possible. "I believe he went to see his father" replied L, voice perfectly emotionless and he pointed at the giant screen embedded into the wall. Sure enough, one of the hundreds of cameras showed her beloved chatting with Mr Yagami on the third floor. She hastily thanked L and rushed out of the room, failing to notice that she had left the bag with sweets behind.

The petit blonde hummed the tune of her newest song to herself while impatiently waiting for the elevator to reach the third floor and her excitement returned at the prospect of making her Light happy.

It was then that she realized that she was no longer holding the bag and for a split second, she panicked. Had she left it at home? No, she clearly remembered bringing it along with her, so where could it be...

She could slap herself. She had left it with Ryuzaki, the greatest sweet tooth she'd ever met in her life! Mentally cursing the elevator for being so slow and herself for her mistake, she drummed her fingers against the cool surface of the interior of the lift.

By the time she had entered the room where she had last seen L, her fears had been confirmed and she watched the scene with horror. He had blatantly ignored the tag she had attached to the bag that clearly stated that its content were for Light. He blinked innocently at her with his wide, owlish eyes as he shoved a forkful of cake into his mouth. In a way he looked like a small boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar, only that L was probably already in his twenties.

"Ah, Misa" he said and turned his chair so he would face her. "I see you noticed you left your things behind." Apparently, he was completely ignorant to the fury that coursed through her and couldn't interpret her expression correctly.

Misa was at a loss for words for a moment. How could he remain so calm and act like he hadn't just stolen her things? She closed the distance between them and snatched the cake he had been devouring and the bag away from him, teeth clenched and bared. His expression didn't change the slightest bit.

"R-Ryuzaki, how dare you?" she finally screeched. "How dare you just take the sweets I made for Light? Do you know how much love and time I invested in those?" Her hands trembled and she felt like smacking the detective.

"I know." His statement startled her and for a second she forgot to be angry. L laid his fork aside and got up from his seat which seemed like a quite difficult task. His head was almost on her level now because of his hunched back and she backed away slightly despite herself. He repeated "I know."

"No, you don't!" she shouted at him and glared at him with the best death glare she could muster. Instead of responding, the man merely tilted his head to the right and peered at her, moving his thumb to his lips. The stubborn streak in Misa didn't allow her to look away and she stood her ground.

Eventually, L straightened his back as much as he could and before she could prevent it, he had snuck a piece of self-made chocolate from her. "Do you remember the last time you wanted to surprise Light with sweets?" he questioned. The girl blinked in surprise and recalled this particular memory. She cringed; last time, her plan had failed and instead of eating it, Light had never touched anything she'd made for him, saying he wasn't hungry.

"That doesn't prove anything! Last time he just wasn't hungry!" she snapped, yet she wasn't as fierce as before. L's lips curled into a childish smile and she was so taken aback by the sudden change in expression that she took a step back. The thought that he looked cute when he smiled was quickly suppressed.

"Misa, please don't lie to yourself. Light has a great distaste for sweets, you know" L claimed and started chewing on the treat he'd stolen. "So you took the sweets, because you thought that you could just take them?" "Precisely. I thought that before the sweets that Misa made with all her love and a lot of effort go to waste, I should take them. At least I can appreciate sweets."

Blood rushed to her cheeks and she turned away to hide her blush. "Y-You could have asked, you know!" _'I would've just said no...'_

There was silence for a while until the black-haired man declared "Those are delicious. Would you mind giving Watari the recipe?" She eyed him incredulously and couldn't help but feel flattered. What was this? A compliment from L shouldn't make her feel so content.

This wasn't going the way she had planned it; she was supposed to be angry at Ryuzaki or Ryuga or L or whoever he really was and not get all flustered by a simple compliment that probably meant nothing to him. Time to get away and calm her racing heart.

"Thank you for understanding Misa so well! You really understand how much she loves Light and how much she does for him!" the model told him and a genuine grin appeared on her delicate face. Misa ruffled his already unruly hair and laughed at his bewildered expression at her display of childishness.

"See you!" she called to him as the elevator's doors closed. The bag was left lying on the floor.

* * *

><p>The next day, Watari found a neatly folded letter with a recipe for chocolate in it while cleaning up. The writing was unmistakably Misa's. The old man smiled knowingly and walked over to L who was eating the last bits of yesterday's treats. He didn't even bother to look up from his laptop.<p>

Watari put a hand on the detective's shoulder and said "It appears that your position is not as hopeless as it seems." The younger male's shoulders tensed. "I have no idea what you might be implying with that, Watari."

Without another word, the elderly inventor went to purchase the ingredients listed in the recipe and left Lawliet to ponder his statement.

L tugged his legs a little more closer to his body and he would've furrowed his eyebrows if he had any as he contemplated his old friend's words. 'It can't be that obvious, now can it?'


End file.
